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Byzantine

If Constantinople had fallen to invasion at the same time as the city of Rome everything today would be different. Your religion, your language, your traditions and the culture you live in would likely have no Classical foundation at all. The Renaissance Era, the Age of Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution which grew from them would never have happened. The Dark Ages would have lasted centuries longer, and the last vestiges of Classical tradition would almost certainly have been replaced by dominant Arabic culture and Islamic religion and thought.

It is a tragedy that Byzantium, the Eastern Roman Empire, is today so little appreciated and poorly remembered. Never in the history of the world has a civilization provided so much to, and sacrificed so much for, the world around it. It is shameful that even the word "Byzantine" has come to have a derogatory meaning when its true legacy has always been one of honor.

Greece, Rome, and Byzantium are the foundations of the Western World. Because of this the Byzantine Empire will always matter, and always continue to be important.

rebuild and organize anew.

The Byzantine Empire did more than protect - it also preserved. Even though the rise of Christianity was a major break which caused huge changes in the Greco-Roman world, much of the fabric of ancient life continued in Byzantium. This included the preservation and study of Classical science, literature, philosophy and critical thought, engineering, architecture, art and even medicine.

Most of the ancient Classical literature which survives today was preserved through the Byzantine Empire. The majority of the works of philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato, and the historical texts of Greece and Rome were saved by Byzantine scholars who maintained the ancient traditions of literature and learning. Works that had been lost for centuries in the West were reintroduced by Byzantines fleeing the final occupation of...

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...HISTORY 1111
World Civilization
Name: __________________________ Date: __________________ Score: _______
1 The most important ingredient in the making of a distinct European civilization was the (A) political legacy of Rome (B) philosopical legacy of Greece (C) synthesizing power of Christianity (D) traditions of the Germanic tribes
2 St. Paul used the term ekklesia to refer to (A) a parish church (B) the Mediterranean-wide assembly of Jesus’ followers (C) the office and officials of the Christian religion (D) the building in which Christians worshipped
3 The Byzantine emperor Justinian is most famous for his (A) reconquest of Italy (B) conversion of the Slavic peoples (C) contributions to Christian theology (D) code of law
4 The value which Germanic tribes ascribed to the worth of individual members was known as the (A) doom (B) gentes (C) comitatus (D) wergeld
5 The iconoclastic controversy (A) had little impact beyond theology (B) reconciled the pope and the patriarch (C) settled the issue of church-state relations in Byzantium (D) led to further separation between western Europe and Byzantium
6 Assimilation was the process of (A) integrating the Christian church into the Roman state (B) reconciling Christian theology with Classical philosophy (C) first converting the kings and chiefs of pagans (D) using the similarities between pagan and Christian customs to facilitate conversion
7 According to Ambrose...

...Jonathan Chou
Period 3
DBQ: The Byzantine Empire
When the western Roman Empire descended into chaos in 500 C.E. much of the Roman culture on the west side was lost, while the Eastern empire survived and preserved much of the surviving Roman Culture, but changed it’s name to the “Byzantine Empire,” showing individuality in many aspects between Rome and Byzantine.
The Byzantine Empire was the surviving reminisces of the Roman Empire, which flourished into the oldest and longest lasting empire in our history. It began with the emperor Constantine who based much of the Byzantine Empire social structure of Rome. For example, the romans had two distinct classes, the Patricians and the Plebeians, the poor and the elite. The Byzantines had the poors and the Vassals. Although there was a severe gap between the social classes, the Byzantines had something called a Pepacy or the office of the people. “The laws of every people governed by statutes and customs are partly peculiar to itself, partly common to all mankind…..” This shows that although it continued on the Greek style of democracy, it incorporated its own laws and writings in it (Document 1 and Document 4)
When the Western Roman Empire crumbled down, many people don’t know the extent of the damage the Western Empire endured. “And having a mind set upon evil, they took in hand unlawful deeds, thinking to suppress...

...﻿The Byzantine Empire, sometimes known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the predominantly Greek-speaking continuation of the eastern half of the Roman Empire during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Its capital city was Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), originally founded as Byzantium. It survived the 5th century fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. Both "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" are historiographical terms created after the end of the realm; its citizens continued to refer to their empire as the Roman Empire.
Several events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the transitional period during which the Roman Empire's east and west divided. In 285, the emperor Diocletian (r. 284–305) partitioned the Roman Empire's administration into eastern and western halves. The borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Justinian I (r. 527–565), the Empire reached its greatest extent after reconquering much of the historically Roman western Mediterranean coast, including north Africa, Italy, and Rome itself, which it held for two more centuries. During the reign of Maurice (r. 582–602), the Empire's eastern...

...﻿What is the Primary Reason to Study the Byzantines?
The Byzantine Empire and its capital city of Constantinople thrived for more than one thousand years and helped shape the history of the modern world. The Byzantines have been largely ignored in classrooms across the nation. Key reasons to study the Byzantine are their religious influence, preservation of literature, and defense tactics. The question as stated is, what is the Primary Reason to Study the Byzantine? The primary reason to study the Byzantine is their political foundations.
The Byzantines were very religiously influential. The religion was Eastern Orthodox. The percentages of nations populations that are Eastern Orthodox range from 98% in Greece to 2% in the United States. (Document C) This shows the Byzantine influence on areas near their origin. The Byzantine religion faced obstacles when spreading to far places such as the United States, hence the small percentage of Eastern Orthodox. (Document C) This shows that distance by water can greatly impact the spread of a religion.
The Byzantines preserved classic literature by recopying the works in minuscule script during the 9th and 10th century. Classics like the Iliad and The Odyssey are among the most widely read poems in American and European schools and colleges today. (Document E) This shows that without...

...01.05 The Byzantines: Objectives
Who Were the Byzantines?
The Roman Empire had stretched so large by the fourth century CE that it had several provincial capitals. The two most important political centers were Rome in the West and Constantinople in the East, which had formerly been called Byzantium. The emperor, Constantine the Great, rebuilt Byzantium to resemble “Old Rome,” and so this political center became known as the “New Rome.” Although those who lived in Constantinople referred to themselves as Romans and were part of the Roman Empire, historians now refer to the peoples of the Eastern Roman Empire as Byzantines.
Though the Byzantine Empire no longer remains, evidence from the era exists across Southern Europe, North Africa, Southwest Asia, and beyond. The Byzantines are famous for their intricate mosaics, like the golden ones here inside a church in Istanbul, Turkey, which was once known as Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire.
How Did the Byzantines Continue the Roman Empire?
By the end of the fourth century CE, the Roman Empire was permanently split into East and West. While the Byzantine Empire in the East thrived, the Western Roman Empire experienced a series of invasions, a declining economy, and poor leadership. In 476 CE, the last Roman emperor of the West, Romulus Augustulus, was overthrown by a Germanic prince named Odovacar....

...Byzantine art
Byzantine art is the artistic products of the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from Rome's decline and lasted until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453,[1] many Eastern Orthodox states in Eastern Europe, as well as to some degree the Muslim states of the easternMediterranean, preserved many aspects of the empire's culture and art for centuries afterward.
A number of states contemporary with the Byzantine Empire were culturally influenced by it, without actually being part of it (the "Byzantine commonwealth"), such as Bulgaria, Serbia, and the Rus, as well as some non-Orthodox states the Republic of Venice and Kingdom of Sicily, which had close ties to the Byzantine Empire despite being in other respects part of western European culture. Art produced by Eastern Orthodox Christians living in the Ottoman Empire is often called "post-Byzantine." Certain artistic traditions that originated in the Byzantine Empire, particularly in regard to icon painting and church architecture, are maintained in Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria,Russia and other Eastern Orthodox countries to the present day.
Just as the Byzantine Empire represented the political continuation of the Roman Empire, Byzantine art developed out of the art...

...﻿Shytria Ash
October 23, 2014
1st hour
Contributions from the Byzantine Empire
After the fall of the Western empire, a new empire rose called the Byzantine Empire. This empire was a continuation of the Roman Empire in many ways. They considered themselves Romans, and the true inheritors of the intellectual, political, and spiritual legacy of Imperial Rome. Over the years the Byzantine formed a culture for itself and developed laws and religions. Even after the fall of the empire, what the Byzantine Empire had created contributed political, culturally, and religiously to today’s modern civilization.
During the ruling of one of the most influential emperors of the Byzantine Empire, laws were developed. This collection of fundamental works in jurisprudence was called Justinian’s Code issued and created by Justinian. Church building was one of his many passions. In the building he used features such as, mosaics, domes, slender minarets, and columnar arches. Christianity was one of the pillars in the empire. Brothers, Cyril and Methodius were missionaries who tried to Christianize the Slavic people. On their mission they created a Slavic alphabet based on Greek characters. In the Roman world, Christianity was a constant turmoil. One controversy was the use of icons used in the eastern Christians to help aid their devotions. Differences between the eastern and western churches continued to grow. In 1054,...

...The Byzantine Empire and Western Europe
The Byzantine Empire and Western Europe originally were part of the Roman Empire, but by the middle Ages(medieval times), they were very different, even though they did share some common traits, but by the 300's, the Byzantine Empire had far surpassed Western Europe in trade and economics and political unity, while both empires were having arguments over religion.
Despite the collapse of the Roman Empire, Europe still stood, separating into two different areas, governed two different ways. Western Europe and the Byzantine Empire had very different government structures. The Western half became Western Europe with popes, and princes ruling at that time. The Eastern half became The Byzantine Empire, ruled by only one ruler. Western Europe was Christian and relied mainly on the teachings of both priests and nuns. The Byzantine Empire relied mainly on its emperor and priests, since they did not believe nuns were not needed in their Christian teachings. Christianity led to a major divide between the two. Clashes were between the Pope and Patriarch over who had more authority and power and over interpretation of practices within the church which eventually lead to the Great Schism. The Christian church split into the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy Church. Although Western Europe relied on a feudal system for military help, The...